This photo of a little waif was taken in a friend's back yard. I was just playing around the the Nikon D300. The photo was done with natural light at ISO 400 in less than ideal circumstances. The lighting was side/back light so her face was in shadow. She was standing on green grass so we had a little of that green color reflected back up into her face (known as color surround) to deal with too. Lastly, her face was between one and two stops underexposed due to the back light and my quick grab shot photo. However, I really liked this photo. The little girl looks somewhat like the character Raggedy Ann with her dirty face and wild hair.
Just a few years ago it would have taken some serious photo editing skill to fix this up in Photoshop with levels, curves and other standard editing tools. Thankfully we now have 'smart' tools like shadow and highlight recovery in the latest photo editing programs and RAW converter editing tool sets. For this series I worked with each RAW converter's tool set to make my best rendition of this image. The first image is about what the average default conversion looked like.
It took a combination of my photo editing skill and the depth of each RAW converter's tool set to render these results. For this reason my photo editing skills and my understanding of each RAW converter's tool set could be considered a limiting factor in making this a truly fair comparison. An expert with each program may have been able to produce images superior to my attempts.
| ACR did excellent job with this image. The shadow and highlight recovery tools in ACR may be the best in the group. Notice how much detail is in the hair in both the shadow and highlight side of the exposure. Flesh tones are excellent. |
| Breezebrowser only had a levels tool available for the Nikon D300 and only preset white balances to choose from. It was impossible to get the kind of results we obtained with most of the rest of the programs. |
| Capture One also did an excellent job with this photo. The requisite tools are there but it took me just a little more time to get the image where I was happy with it. I wasn't able to recover as well in the highlight area as ACR/Lightroom but very close. Fleshtones are nearly perfect |
Canon RAW files only
SilverFast DC VLT
| SilverFast does not have the new generation of 'smart' tools for highlight and shadow recovery. Nonetheless, I was able to do a pretty nice job with the available tools. Highlight recovery was just beyond the capabilities of my skills and SilverFast's tool set for this image. |
Silkypix Developer Studio
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SilkyPix's tools frequently have different naming conventions than most of the rest of these programs. The necessary tools are there and it took just a bit longer to get the job done. Highlight recovery was nearly as good as ACR/Lightroom or Capture One Pro. Excellent color renditions. |
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LINKS:
Introduction, comments on RAW and features comparison chart
Adobe ACR & Lightroom) overview
Bibble Pro overview
BreezeBrowser Pro overview
Canon Digital Photo Pro overview
Capture
One Pro overview
Silky Pix Developer Studio overview
SilverFast HDR overview
comparison examples - color renditions
comparison examples - color and tonal range
comparison examples - landscapes
comparison examples - artifacts & sharpening
comparison examples - studio lights with
Kelvin white balance
comparison examples - digital noise at ISO
1600
EXIF and IPTC information
WEB SITE LINKS
Steve Hoffmann's Nature and Landscape Photography - Gallery
Index & News
PHOTOGRAPHY AND DIGITAL IMAGING INFORMATION
Beginners Level Digital Darkroom Slide Show Tutorial
Digital Darkroom Imaging and Printing Tech Tips
Photography Tech Tips
A Practical Guide to Interpreting RGB Histograms
Digital Camera Raw Converter Comparisons
Digital SLR vs. Film Scans
DSLR Sensor Size and Pixel
Density
Aftermarket Scanner Control Software
My Photo Equipment
Building Your First Web Site Mini Tutorial
Contact